Chapter 1999
Lady 3
Both of Liu's sons passed the imperial examinations and became scholars when they were teenagers.
However, like Zhu Xiuping and the other two, they were good at studying but not good at practical matters. Although their articles were ornate, they were not practical.
This resulted in all of them failing the imperial examination in the last time they took it.
Over the next three years, the five of them traveled together to learn about the lives of ordinary people and the produce of farmland. As a result, their writings were no longer exaggerated.
Their teacher said that the five of them would participate in the imperial examination and were very likely to pass the exam.
Upon hearing her daughter's words, Zhao quickly turned her attention to her son, and Liu Dong breathed a sigh of relief.
The imperial examination consisted of three sessions over a total of nine days. Spending those nine days cooped up in a small room meant I couldn't eat or sleep well, which greatly affected my performance.
Out of consideration for her own brother, Liu Tong had sweaters knitted and wool felt made for them, enough to keep them warm.
Don't ask him how he knew about the sweater.
He often had some novel ideas popping into his head, which he thought were caused by a system leakage.
The young men didn't pay much attention to the sweater, finding it strange and even the felt felt felt rough.
Therefore, I did not bring it with me during the exam.
However, Liu Feng, the older brother, reluctantly put on the sweater under his mother's watchful gaze.
Only after putting it on did he realize how good the sweater was.
It's so warm!
Liu Feng: "Although my third sister is usually unreliable, she did a good job this time!"
Zhao rolled her eyes at him: "Are you praising your sister or insulting her?"
Liu Feng: "Of course I praised her, after all, it's rare to find something to praise about her."
“You…” Zhao was so angry that she punched her son.
Wearing the loving sweater her younger sister had given her, Liu Feng lay on a wool felt mat and spent nine warm days.
But the others are in a much worse situation.
This year's spring chill was much colder than in previous years, and the students were shivering from the cold, which affected their performance.
Many people even fell ill from the cold.
When Liu Feng left the examination room, he found that the other four all had pale faces and looked sickly.
Liu Feng quickly gathered servants from the four households and sent their master home for treatment.
The other four fainted as soon as they got home, unlike Liu Feng who took a shower, ate a meal, and then slowly went to bed to rest.
The next day, Liu Feng, refreshed and full of energy, went to visit his four sick brothers who were taking medicine.
The other four people were all jealous when they saw his appearance.
Liu Yu: "You weren't frozen?"
Liu Feng: "The sweater my third sister gave me is very warm."
The other four: "..."
They had their maid find the sweater they had previously thrown away in a corner and put it on.
Then I found it really delicious.
It's really warm!
Once their families learned how warm the sweater was, they all approached Liu Tong, wanting one.
Liu Dong had no patience to deal with these women, let alone the stamina to teach them how to make sweaters.
Liu Tong gave the maid who had previously made sweaters to Zhao Shi, instructing Zhao Shi to deal with those noble ladies.
Zhao and several other ladies saw the potential of sweaters, so they partnered to start a wool sweater manufacturing factory.
Sweaters became popular in Beijing and spread to other places.
It is not yet known that castrating pigs will reduce the gamey smell of pork, so most people eat mutton instead.
There are many people who raise sheep.
Previously, wool was discarded as waste, but now it can be recycled and turned into money, leading to a surge in sheep farming.
Seeing how much money could be made from sweaters and yarn, Liu Qiu felt a pang of regret. She wished she had taken control of the business herself.
Maintaining an army is very expensive.
Liu Dong thought and thought, and then his mind gave him an answer: a method for making soap.
Liu Dong immediately wrote down the prescription and handed it to the eldest princess.
The eldest princess and Liu Tong signed a profit-sharing agreement, with the eldest princess receiving 60% of the profits and Liu Tong receiving 40%.
He put all of these profits into the Tian Ce Army.
Getting back to the topic, once Liu Yu and the others recovered from their illnesses, the results of the imperial examinations were finally released.
Because of the cold weather, many people did not make it to the end.
Liu Yu and the others were relatively lucky; they persevered to the end and finished their exams.
Therefore, Liu Yu and the others made the list, but their rankings were relatively low.
Liu Feng, however, surged ahead and became the top of the list.
Liu Feng was overjoyed, knowing it was all thanks to his younger sister. He wanted to give her a gift to express his gratitude, but he didn't know what to give her.
He ran over to ask Zhao about it.
Even the Zhao family didn't know.
His daughter loves nothing more than eating and running around; he doesn't care about jewelry or pretty clothes at all.
Does this mean the son should bring food to the daughter?
Even if the son ordered a table full of delicious food at the restaurant, it would only add up to twenty taels of silver.
A single piece of jewelry can cost hundreds of taels of silver.
Finally, Liu Feng had no choice but to send Liu Dong delicious food for ten consecutive days.
Liu Feng was overjoyed and gave him a bar of soap that his subordinate had just delivered.
The soap has just been made and is not yet available for sale.
Liu Feng: "What is this?"
Liu Tong: "Soap! Use it when you shower and wash your hair. It will clean your body very well. Oh, and you can also use it to wash clothes and your face."
Looking at the beautifully designed soap and smelling its faint fragrance, Liu Feng didn't believe in its effectiveness.
Liu Tong: "Why don't you try it and see? It's not like you're doing anything special."
Liu Feng agreed.
Liu Dong then took the remaining soap to Zhao Shi and gave it all to her.
Zhao Shi didn't distrust Liu Dong as much as Liu Feng did, and immediately used soap to wash up.
The results speak for themselves.
Zhao treasured the soap and was reluctant to use it again.
Liu Tong: "Mother, please use it as you like. This stuff is sold at the Princess's shop. You can buy it whenever you go to the Princess's shop in the future."
Zhao: "Really? Where is that shop?"
Liu Dong told Zhao the shop's name and address: "It will open in three days."
Zhao asked in confusion, "The business won't open for another three days, so where did you get all this soap?"
Liu Tong chuckled: "Would you believe me if I said I know the Princess?"
Zhao's eyes widened: "How do you know the Princess?"
My daughter is just the daughter of a fourth-rank official, and can only be considered middle-class among all noble ladies. How could she possibly have the opportunity to meet a top noble lady like the Princess?
Liu Tong: "I met her when I went out to play! The princess said I was lively and cute, different from other noble ladies, and that I won her heart. She invited me to visit her residence often."
This was the reason she had come up with; it would make it easier for her to use the excuse of visiting the Princess's residence to go to the military camp and discuss matters with the Princess.
Zhao took a deep breath and grabbed Liu Tong's ear: "Why didn't you say something so important sooner?"
Liu Dong: "I just forgot."
Zhao: "Why don't you forget to eat?"
Liu Dong: "There's no delicious food in this world that I can't let down, and I certainly can't let my stomach suffer." (End of Chapter)